ris3n's Apologetics Codex

Passage

Hosea 1.1

Book: Hosea · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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ASV

1. The word of Jehovah that came unto Hosea the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.

  1. When Jehovah spake at the first by Hosea, Jehovah said unto Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredom and children of whoredom; for the land doth commit great whoredom, departing from Jehovah. 3. So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; and she conceived, and bare him a son. (Hosea 1:1-3, ASV)
WEB

1. Yahweh’s word that came to Hosea the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.

  1. When Yahweh spoke at first by Hosea, Yahweh said to Hosea, “Go, take for yourself a wife of prostitution and children of unfaithfulness; for the land commits great adultery, forsaking Yahweh.” 3. So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; and she conceived, and bore him a son. (Hosea 1:1-3, WEB)
KJV

1. The word of the LORD that came unto Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.

  1. The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD. 3. So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; which conceived, and bare him a son. (Hosea 1:1-3, KJV)
YLT

1. A word of Jehovah that hath been unto Hosea, son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam son of Joash, king of Israel:

  1. The commencement of Jehovah's speaking by Hosea. And Jehovah saith unto Hosea, 'Go, take to thee a woman of whoredoms, and children of whoredoms, for utterly go a-whoring doth the land from after Jehovah.' 3. And he goeth and taketh Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceiveth and beareth to him a son; (Hosea 1:1-3, YLT)

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Setting

  • Speaker: the editorial superscription of the book
  • Audience: readers of the collected oracles
  • Location: the northern kingdom of Israel, repeatedly called Ephraim after its dominant tribe
  • Time period: the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah of Judah, and Jeroboam II of Israel, so a ministry beginning c. 750 BC

Theological reading

The dating formula anchors the oracles in verifiable political history rather than in timeless religious sentiment. Four Judean kings are named against a single Israelite king, and the asymmetry is itself a comment: Jeroboam II's successors, six kings in roughly twenty-five years with four of them assassinated by the men who replaced them, are passed over unnamed. A northern prophet dates his book primarily by southern reigns.

The phrase "the word of the LORD that came unto Hosea" (Hebrew hayah el) presents the message as received rather than composed, which is the standard prophetic self-understanding and the ground of the book's authority claim. Hosea is the only writing prophet from the northern kingdom itself; Amos preached there but came from Tekoa in Judah.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

  • TBD
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Quoted in

Concepts:

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

  • ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
  • WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
  • KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
  • YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.